Napier Takes Ownership, Stresses Same to His Team
Billy Napier split his first two games at UF and now must prepare his team for a visit from USF on Saturday.... (Photo: Courtney Culbreath/UAA Communications)
Photo By: Courtney Culbreath
Sunday, September 11, 2022

Napier Takes Ownership, Stresses Same to His Team

Arianna Allen, FloridaGators.com Writing Intern
Billy Napier didn't shy away from what needs to be done after his first loss as Florida's head coach.
GAINESVILLE, Fla. — There were no excuses coming from the Florida Gators after their Swamp-draining 26-16 loss Saturday night to 20th-ranked Kentucky. 

The No. 12 Gators fell hard to the Wildcats after going scoreless in the second half. UF had the ball for 12 minutes and 29 seconds after intermission and managed to go punt, interception, punt and two turnovers on downs. The Gators dropped from No. 12 to 18th when the AP Top 25 poll was released on Sunday afternoon.

Billy Napier took a philosophical and practical approach after his first Southeastern Conference outing with the Gators ended in disappointment. Coaching is teaching, of course. But sometimes the coaches can be students and learn themselves. 

"When the students don't perform as well as you want them to, I think, as a coach and as a teacher, you've got to take a good look in the mirror," Napier said. "I think that's exactly what I'm going to do, what our staff's going to do." 

Florida 16, Kentucky 26
Senior defensive back Trey Dean III takes a moment after UF's loss Saturday night.

Taking ownership. Ownership over the mistakes, ownership over the miscommunications and ownership over the improvement that Florida needs to make, especially on the offensive side of the ball.

"I think when you are in a leadership position and things are not going the way they should go or you want them to go, you've got to take ownership of that," Napier reiterated.

The Gators struggled on offense all night, finishing with just 279 yards a week after rolling up 451 in the season-opening upset of No. 7 Utah. Florida tallied just 12 total first downs and reached the red zone only once, an appearance it converted into a touchdown on an 11-yard run by freshman tailback Trevor Etienne.

And then there were the two momentum-swinging interceptions from quarterback Anthony Richardson that resulted in 13 points for the visitors. The 6-foot-3, 235-pound sophomore, a week after positing career bests of 168 yards passing and three rushing TDs against the Utes, completed only 14 of his 35 attempts in his second start at home, just the third of his career. A terrific Kentucky defense held Richardson to four yards on six carries.  

"We lost, and I feel like it's completely on me," Richardson said. 

It is no secret that Richardson struggled throughout the game to find an offensive rhythm. It is no secret that the Gators as a cohesive unit struggled to find a rhythm to capitalize on what was a mostly outstanding UF defensive effort that limited UK to just 272 yards.

Losing naturally leaves any competitor with a bad taste in their mouth. However, there is good that can come from being humbled. It's just not always fun. 

"Ultimately I know that the best struggle, and the most growth in life, comes from some of the most difficult struggles you go through," Napier said. 

While the loss stings right now, the team's mentality is to take that ownership and learn from this experience. It's the first loss of the season for the Gators. As sophomore defensive tackle Gervon Dexter Sr., who had seven total tackles and an interception, said afterward, it's just one game. No one, he said, was raising any trophies in the second week of September. 

There's lots of football to play. Lots of things to fix. 

"We won't point any fingers," Dexter said. "We're just going to be great teammates to each other and have each other's back and just stay focused on the long-term goal. Nobody won a championship today, anyway, so this is only Week 2."


 
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